Another simple yet great ballhandling drill is the wrap around drill. You all know by now that I’m a big fan of drills or things you can do while watching tv or listening to music. I believe that while a game is on, players shouldn’t just sit there but actually be up and doing something with the ball. If you are going to sit down you can at least shoot the ball in the air or do a fingertip ball control drill. Anyway, let’s get to the wrap around.

Take a ball and wrap it around your right leg in each direction at least 10 times. The ball is not to be dribbled, but just wrapped around. Then take the ball and wrap it around your left leg the same way you did your right and then both legs together. Once you have control in all areas then you want to combine all 3 into one and really work on the speed of the drill. Here’s how:

Take the ball and go right leg, together, left leg, together, right leg, together, left leg, together as fast as you can. Really get in a rhythm and try to go for a minute without an error. If you want to get really technical then do the drill with a blindfold on or just make sure you are focusing straight ahead. On Hoopskills.com we offer some dribble specs which players can use to keep them from looking down during certain drills and they would apply here.

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It is tough not to cheer for this team to make the National Title game isn’t it. Many people had them pegged to lose in the opening round yet they keep going playing teams from all conferences and continually beat them with tough defense.

When I became a believer was in the first 5 minutes against Syracuse. I watched Syracuse a bunch this season and Butler came out and was prepared for them. They weren’t going to give them fast break chances and were going to play them physically and that’s what they did. It was a great coaching job and better execution by the players. Then against Kansas St they did the same thing and just played them tougher than most thought. Michigan St is a physical team with a lot of athletes who get up and down the court but I have a feeling that Butler will be able to match them and that we’ll have another typical close game.

If Butler wins the Final 4 I predict a movie will be made. I know that 5 seeds winning it aren’t the highest longshots ever, but Butler, from a mid major playing in the same state where they reside is a Hollywood story.

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I wrote today on facebook about coaches that can win with more or less talent and some of the characteristics that they have and I want to expound on that a little. Not every successful coach does it the same way. Sometimes coaches mold their style to the team they have and others just coach a certain way that seems to work for them.

I use Coach K as an example often because he’s such a great example. He takes McDonald’s All americans and really gets them to buy into a team concept at an early stage in their college careers and it makes that program really run well. Coach K took that same philosophy and applied it to the olympic team and they won a gold and had those guys really thinking only about the team and winning the medal. It’s honestly unappreciated because others look at that program and say “yes, they win but look at all that talent.” Truth is they would win games with Coach K or any coach but it is the way it is done. Rick Barnes is my alternate example of a coach who gets high school all americans but Texas is no threat to ever win a title. Barnes will win 25 games a year and churn out some pros but his teams aren’t going to win it all because he hasn’t figured out how to get those kids to buy into the team concept first and I don’t think they are recruited that way. Duke is always scary to play when the players have fully bought into what Coach K is selling and they have bought in this season.

People often ask my opinion of Bobby Knight and Rick Majerus and since I have first hand experience with Majerus I can speak with greater confidence. Majerus makes sure he is incredibly prepared and he does his homework. He asks a lot of his players and challenges them constantly and I’m sure Bobby Knight was the same way. Bobby KNight’s successful Indiana teams all bought into his concept that not everyone can or should be the star and if they were going to win they needed to believe it. Coach K is a Bob Knight disciple but they come across differently. Coach K isn’t all hugs and high fives like a lot of people think he is and Bob Knight didn’t choke every player that came into his program but they both wanted the most from their kids and they wanted to win with a passion. You recruit the best players you can that fit the team concept and let them play.

Bill Self left Illinois high and dry for Kansas and nobody can blame the guy. Kansas is Kansas so I have no hard feelings for him. Self is an incredible recruiter who believes he is only as good as the kids he gets into school. He’s said it as much several several times. Self got Illinois Dee Brown, Deron Williams and James Augustine and then left after a season there. 2 years later Bruce Weber led Illinois to the National Title game and a team that only lost 2 games the entire season. I’ve often wondered what would’ve happened if Self had coached that team and I don’t think they would’ve gotten that far. Self got a National Title a couple years ago and I’m happy for him, but I don’t think he’s a great coach or manager of the talent that he has. I loved his use of Morningstar this year when he clearly isn’t as talented as others on the bench, but sometimes you need the guy out there who will play defense and pass and be happy with that. He will always win because he can get good kids in there but we haven’t seen the last of Kansas being a 1 seed losing in the 2nd round.

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I love ballhandling drills because this is becoming a lost art as well. Players today are more creative handling the ball but not always as effective handling the ball. A lot of kids can go between the legs but that isn’t always the best thing to do. Here’s a drill that helps you with the basics…

Start at the baseline just outside of the foul line and begin dribbling in place with 2 balls. When you are under control start dribbling the two balls up toward the foul line while remaining in line with the foul lane. Once you get to the foul line then start to slide and dribble towards the other foul lane. When you reach the line, then go backward toward the baseline while dribbling with both hands still. When you get to the baseline then slide and dribble back to where you started.

Don’t worry about going fast at first, just controlled. Once you get better try to alternate between dribbling in sync and not in sync. Eventually you should time yourself to judge improvement or race against others.

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I am so excited I can’t stand it. This is one of my favorite days of the entire year for good reason as the tourney starts today.

Last year I sat in Vegas with some very good friends and we had a great time. Sure, we put some money down on games and for the most part lost a lot of it but it was a great time. I would recommend it to anyone because there is nothing like watching the tourney in Vegas surrounding by people who have hundreds or thousands on teams covering the spread or not because it brings such excitement to the game.

I woke up today after a tough night of moving (we are moving again for the 5th time in 6 years) and I am sore and stressed about life and what it brings. Then I had that awakening of what today is and what it means in my life. No matter what is happening to me I’ll be able to watch games all day long and forget about my problems and just sink into the game I love. Today is Christmas morning to me and it feels like I got just what I wanted.

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Joe pump faked me and I bit on it and I learned my lesson.

On Saturday night I couldn’t sleep at all. I tossed and turned as I thought back to all the missed chances Illinois had against Ohio St. I was upset that Utah St and UTEP had both lost and that took up some spots for some bubble teams. I knew the ILLINI had lost 14 games but I was hoping they’d get Arizona’d into the tourney. (Arizona went 18-14 last year and still got in the tourney and I was hoping for the same)

3 pm MST on Sunday and Lunardi announces his bracket. ESPN talks him up and says he is 97.6% accurate since 2000 so I was ready to take him at his word. If he said illinois was out then they would be out but if they were in then I was going to buy in. Why wouldn’t I when he’s 97.6% correct? Then I saw it…Illinois as a 12 playing Butler as a 5. I was ecstatic. I made some phone calls and some plans for the tourney and I was pumped. All I needed was the confirmation that was going to come in about an hour and that would seal the deal. Instead it was like trying to tackle Barry SAnders in his prime. I was juked out of my shoes because the ILLINI didn’t get in.

I’m not going to rant about bubble teams and how Illinois deserved it because they blew it, not the committee. The committee didn’t lose a couple games to utah and Bradley, but Illinois did. My rant today is about Lunardi and his power. It’s really useless if you ask me. I’m sure he knows all about where the teams play and the rules but beyond that he is just like you and me. I put together my own list of which teams would make the tourney after the automatic bids were all done and I only missed one team and that was Virginia Tech. No ACC team in the history of the conference had that many conference wins and didn’t make the tourney. I buy so much into Lunardi and I won’t ever again, not because he crushed my dreams like the Cubs every season, but because we don’t need Lunardi to tell us things we already know.

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A great drill for young players and coaches is the machine gun dribble. Have each player take a ball and dribble with one hand as hard and fast as they can for a limited period of time like 30 seconds or so. The dribble should be waist high at first and once 30 seconds has gone by then have the player switch hands and do the same thing.

Once the players are able to do the drill error free then have them move the ball to below the knee for 30 seconds with each hand so they can learn how much easier it is to control the ball while it is lower to the ground.

Once the players have that part of the drill down then have them incorporate 2 balls into the mix and dribbling with each hand at the same time first starting at the waist and then below the knee. Make sure the players know that they shouldn’t slap at the ball and that they should maintain dribbling control using the fingertips of the hand.

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We’ve all played knockout or elimination or lightning before which is a shooting game. We used to play a ball handling game that we called knockout as well and it was just as fun and a little more physical.

Knockout involves giving each player a ball and confining them to a certain area on the court. I suggest that you start the area larger and shrink it as players leave the game but I’m getting ahead of myself. 1st: EAch player has a ball in hand within a certain boundary, say halfcourt. EAch player begins to dribble while trying to knock the other players dribble or ball away. If a dribble is lost or a player goes out of bounds he is out. If a player commits a foul he is out, but the offense must call the foul here. Once players get knocked out shrink the floor so the remaining players have less room to maneuver.

Players must be able to dribble with both hands if they are to be good at this game. It is very important to use your body as well to protect the ball.

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This is another simple drill that players can do anywhere on the court or at home really. First, just take the ball and set it on the floor in front of you.

This is not a dribbling drill, just a drill to work on fingertip strength and control while getting used to the ball in your hands. Keep your legs and arms straight and just bend at the waist. Reach down and start to flip the ball from hand to hand making sure that you keep it only in your fingertips. Keep the ball off the floor and focus on making sure that the ball is above your toes and not hitting the ground. Go for 30 seconds without an error before changing spots. When you change spots simply bring the ball up to your waist level and flip is back and forth there as well making sure that your arms are extended out and the ball is only touching your fingertips. Once you have done that level for 30 seconds then take the ball and go above your head with it for 30 seconds following the same rules.

If you are coaching players you can have them do this drill all at once if you’d like as each practice should have time devoted to ball handling drills.

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Another great ball handling drill is call the escape drill and can be done on any half court or an even smaller area and you’ll understand this more as i explain the drill to you.

The escape drill involves 3 players with one player dribbling the ball and two people playing defense. The player with the ball starts at the baseline with the 2 defenders at the foul line. The player begins dribbling in an attempt to make it to half court without losing control of the ball or having it get stolen or tipped away. Defenders are not allowed to foul but are allowed to be as obnoxious as legally possible. The idea is to try to rattle the ball handler to force a turnover. If the ball handler is any good he’ll be able to complete this drill relatively easily because typically the defense doens’t have a solid enough plan. However, when it becomes too common for the offense to break the pressure simply add a 3rd defender to make it more difficult.

The key to the drill is moving quickly while keeping the dribble low. If the ball hander is slow in his moves it will be too easy for the defense to force a mistake.

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